Friday, March 08, 2013

Found...

at 'The Hammock Papers' ...


"Being right all the time acquires a huge importance
in education, and there is this terror of being wrong.
The ego is so tied to being right that later on in life you
are reluctant to accept that you are ever wrong, because
you are defending not the idea but your self-esteem.
This terror of being wrong means that people have
enormous difficulties in changing ideas."

-Edward De Bono

7 comments:

Doom said...

In school, I tried to explain that education was difficult, not just because of the material, but because it required a change of mind. Most of the kids thought I was fubar regarding this. Which made me wonder if it was them or me who was off-key. Looks like someone, somewhere, does or did support some of my notion?

Now, my question is this? How can women change their minds so often!?! :p

J Cosmo Newbery said...

A lot of wisdom in that.

the walking man said...

It's not the changing of ideas that terrifies people as much as it is that having to make a choice and once c hosen may turn out to be the long way around that terrifies them.

boneman said...

It took me forever, or so it seemed, to understand the concept that there is no "truth"...
What is truth to one person, may not be truth to another.

Maybe intelligence is the same?

I mean, what have we accomplished in the last million years worth bragging about?
Shelter? Being in Ohio for the Winter, you now recognize that wood isn't much without heat, and that heat can be a fire in a cave, too.
Medicines? Again, most of what we use are just things that have always been here, stuff we already had.
Teevee? OK, I'll give you that now we can watch our favorite entertainment shows, but books are even better, because our teams NEVER lose in books.
Except for Babe Ruth who struck out.
OK, too far, I'm sure, but then, intelligence seems to try to stand as all important, all encompassing, even omnipotent, when it's just another form of entertainment.

I like the person who is intelligent enough to make cookies.
That's intelligence!

(Spring's almost here...hang in there!)
d=^))

Jean said...

The point is, I believe, that being right is a big order. Fearing wrong (again) can paralyze.

Doom said...

Urhm, I don't think we can be "right", not always, not for very long either. At some point, no matter who we are, wrong seeps in. Actually, it's always there, waiting to grow, at the very least in seed form. Life is understanding that and doing anyway, because we should act, that creates one of my favorite virtues (if I won't say I am good at it), humility.

Humility, from the understanding that I was wrong, is better than a whip at livening the nerves when it all becomes plain to see. If received rightly, it doesn't crush, it just... attenuates the senses and relieves one of... pride, hubris, and a few other things... something like that. Although sometimes it is used as a reason to double down into madness. Everyone goes there, too, sometimes.

Is that what you mean?

Jean said...

awww, thanks, Joe. You're one of two who remembered.

:-)